Author: ranonetwork

Normally, elementary school is just a period to prepare before entering a higher level school.

They teach reading, writing, math and general education.

In Celica’s previous life, it is the period of elementary school and junior high school.

Celica was called a prodigy there and was groomed.

At the age of 10, she could solve college level math problems and create poems that made adults groan in jealousy.

She had more common sense than other boys and girls her age.

Celica had committed herself to studying everything about this world ever since she was an infant.

Celica was also favored by her teachers and was also popular with the boys and girls her age.

A girl who is good at studying, sports, and above anything else is beautiful would become a target of envy.

However, there were some that avoided her because of her dark skin.

Some also made fun of Celica for being a commoner.

But, she never gave those people any thought.

[If half of the people will follow me then it’s our win.] Celica

In this country democracy is not prevalent, but it is the same even in a despot government.

It is impossible for someone to be liked by everyone or to receive support from everyone.

Then if you have an absolute majority support then you won’t have any problems.

For example, suppose that there are hundred students in this school.

If you receive the support of 51 people then you would have overcome the opposing party, but in reality, you don’t need that much support.

The 51 students are not singular entities, they are divided into groups.

If you have the largest group among the 51 people, for example if you have a group of 26 people, you can monopolize that support. Therefore, you can become the biggest force among the 51 people.

Furthermore, if the 26 people are divided into two groups, then all you need to do is gain the support of 14 people among them.

With this Celica can take control.

Even though it looks like there are many groups, but in fact there are only a few people holding power.

That is the trick.

It is the basis of military tactics and Celica abides by it.

Defeat a small number group using superiority in numbers.

In other words, by borrowing the influence of Princess Lunelize Celica created her own faction within the school and crushed each troublesome group one by one and expanded her power.

A circle of people gradually formed around Celica and stories of the other boys and girls will be brought to her.

Celica generously granted the wishes of the boys and girls.

The nobility are shit. The capitalists are pigs.

This was Celica ‘s belief, but she do not avoid making friends with their children.

It may help her in her future plans.

Celica is gaining favors from the future ruling class.

After saying all of this, its only the wishes of students. It’s nothing serious.

The boys and girls who fell in love wanted her to help them.

Although Celica mostly deals with love advice, there were some who fell in love with their teachers, which was a bit troublesome.

If it wasn’t love talks then it was food.

This school is basically a boarding school.

Many of the students are living in the dormitory at the school, although there are some who go home everyday, due to security reasons, like Lunelize.

Although it is a dormitory where aristocrats gather, the food of this dormitory is something similar to British boarding schools from Celica’s previous life.

No, that may be rude to this dormitory?

However, the level of cooking at this school is a bit better than English cuisine, but honestly it made Celica, who is a commoner, wince in disgust.

In the school’s dining hall the words “vigor, simple, and frugal” are hung on the wall. But the cafeteria food can not be called delicious.

The upper-class children who were used to eating gourmet food are having a tough time.

So, it was inevitable that food imported from outside would become valuable.

A cake from a famous pastry shop in the center of the capital.

A hot dog from the stand at the nearby park.

Food that would spoil quickly was traded at a high price in the school and cookies and other food that would last more than a day were circulating as a form of currency.

Celica is in a position to take control of this system.

The one that could make this possible was Lunelize.

As explained earlier, she is a member of the royal family and goes to and from her home under a special arrangement.

There was no impudent teacher who would examine the body of someone from the royal family.

Lunelize could smuggle in food easily if she hid sweets among her clothes.

There is also the method of bringing in a large amount of lunch boxes and then distributing the food.

Celica made use of any and all means available and gained control over the economy and power of the school.

However, even with all of this there was one annoying thing Celica had to do.

That is offering love advice.

Of course, if it’s love advice for aristocrats whose heads are filled with cotton candy then all she has to do is give some random coaching, and if both sides are interested, then it’s possible to force them together. But there are cases where this cannot be done.

That is to say there are cases where Celica doesn’t want it to happen.

The fact that there were many of these cases troubled Celica.

At least 10% of love advice requests that were brought to Celica concerned Celica herself.

In other words, there are many students who confess to Celica.

Moreover, there were both boys and girls, upper and lower-class men.

During her time in school, she was to confessed more than 30 times. She refused every time, but each time she felt her face burn up.

Celica’s outer surface is that of a perfect girl, but inside of this girl is a man.

It was uncomfortable to be confessed to by a man, and it was weird to be confessed to by a woman.

SInce Celica has the mindset of an adult it is a little embarrassing to see the confession of beautiful boys and girls.

Of course it was absolutely embarrassing when she was the focus of interest.

Celica wanted to ask someone for advice, which was rare, but the only one she could ask is the Princess.

Since Celica had no other choice she asked Lunelize for advice.

And Lunelize said this.

[It cannot be helped, since Celica-sama’s beautiful face can be compared to a goddess of beauty. In the future, you will become a true beauty. Of course people would become infatuated with you.] Lunelize

[And,] Lunelize continued.

[Children at this age will acknowledge someone for being good at sports. Celica-sama is fastest in a race and you dance as well as a gymnast when we have floor exercises. In addition to that, you are the top prodigy at the school when it comes to studying, you are perfect. Telling someone to not fall in love with a girl like you is an impossible task.] Lunelize

[I see. You have a point there.] Celica

[It’s not just one point but a whole dozen of them. So please don’t be too cold when you turn them down. Im sure they must have mustered all of their courage to confess to you.] Lunelize

[I will think about it. But I won’t be able to stand it unless I turn them down. I can only take so much.] Celica

[Fufufu, I see. Even if it’s Celica-sama you cannot handle several people at the same time especially when it comes to love stories.] Lunelize

[Yeah.When it comes to combat 100 people is nothing.] Celica

When Celica said this Lunelize asked her a question.

[Well, Celica-sma, do not you plan on finding a lover?] Lunelize

[No. Unfortunately, I can’t even say I’m upset about it. I do not like men.] Celica

[Oh no, well, it seems you are not comfortable around men.] Lunelize

Celica was relieved she was asked “why?”.

However, she continued speaking while showing an expression like a mischievous fairy.

[Actually, I am not good with gentleman, as well. Isn’t that a coincidence.] Lunelize (TL Note: Oh shit!!)

[That’s a problem, since members of the royal family must be married in the future. Lunelize, you are of no exception. I will have you have a political marriage and become a political pawn.] Celica

[I know. Since I was born as a daughter of the emperor,I was prepared for that to happen. But, at the same time, the royal family is guaranteed the freedom to love who they want. My father also does not love the Empress, my father only married her out of a sense of duty.] Lunelize

[There seems to be a well known phrase among the nobles. Marry someone as a public official and love someone as a private person. That is why a life where you have dozens of lovers is glorified.] Celica

[Yes. So, at the very least I’d like to enjoy romance freely until I get married.] Lunelize

[That’s fine, I will ask around to see if there any interested people here at school.] Celica

[There is someone I’m interested in but I will refrain from having you do anything.] Lunelize

[Why? Do you want to realize your love with you own efforts?] Celica

[There is that. Also it seems that person is indifferent to love.] Lunelize

[Honestly, that person is a fool.] Celica

[Yeah, a true fool.] Lunelize

As Lunelize said this, she took Celica by surprise and lightly pressed her lips against Celica’s cheek.

[…………] Celica

Since it happened so suddenly, Celica stood there frozen.

She just stood there dumbfounded staring at Lunelize.

Lunelize smiled cheerfully and lastly said.

[See, Celica-sama is really a fool. Shouldn’t you say something clever at a time like this.] Lunelize

She laughed as she left with a light gait that made her seem like she was weightless.

Celica was dumbfoundedly staring at the back of Lunelize, with her hand on the cheek where the feeling of Lunelize’s lips remained.

(TL Note: I am sorry I have been sick with the flu for 2 weeks. I will be back up to full speed by next week.)

Even though Celica spent her school days like this dealing with unpleasant things, she did have peaceful days.

Lunelize was also attending this school, and the time she spent with her calmed Celica.

For example, during lunch time, Lunelize would bring her bento from her house and allow Celica to accompany her.

It’s the bento of a royal. It’s on a different level than the school’s lunch.

The sandwich has many layers of high class ham inside of it and the cheese is from a special farm for the royal family. The cheese comes from the same place.

Lunelize’s lunchbox is filled with the best ingredients made by the best chefs.

The ones who normally eat this are either those who are royalty or those who are loyal to them.
Celica looks at the blonde girl.
She is glad to have Lunelize working for her.
As she whispered this, Lunelize rebutted.

[Celica-sama you say that you have me working for you. But this is wrong.

I am just following Celica-sama’s will of my own volition.

Even though I am hesitant, even with the subjugation contract, I would still share my lunch with Celica-sama] Lunelize

As to why, Lunelize continued.

[I wish to be friends with Celica-sama. Even though all we are doing is eating lunch, is there any reason to hesitate.] Lunelize

As Celica listened to these words, she washed down the sandwich with some black tea.
Is this girl serious?
Celica used her magic eye.
Lunelize’s body was shining white.
Her wanting to be friends with Celica seemed to be the truth.
Celica wondered why?
She decided to ask her.
Lunelize answered her clearly.

[The first time I saw Celica-sama, I thought a servant of God had descended from heaven. Celica was that heavenly and beautiful.] Lunelize

[I am just a dark elf. It’s nothing rare.] Celica

[That is not true. There is no one as beautiful as Celica-sama.] Celica

[Thanks for that.] Celica

Even though she is a girl it doesn’t seem like she is the type of person to have an inferiority complex.

[But, it’s not just you being beautiful. Celica-sama is strong. The way you instantly slaughtered the criminals was like a fallen angel from the legends.] Lunelize

[Is that your attempt at flattering me?] Celica

[Yes, it is. Whatever the case, the legends in this country state that a fallen angel was a hero who defeated an evil dragon that was rampaging in this country.] Lunelize

[Honestly, you are a girl I do not understand. But, well. Keep believing in me. In 10 years, no in 5 years I will stand at the top of this country. Then I will reform this country, no the world. Then this place should become a bit easier to line in.] Celica

[In the country Celica-sama is aiming for, will there be hungry people?] Lunelize

[I will make a country where as long as you work properly you won’t go hungry.] Celica

[Will there be no more poor people or people afraid of violence?] Lunelize

[Criminals will be sent to prison. Even if they are nobles.] Celica

[What about the royalty? Will they still exist?] Lunelize

[If they are necessary for the people they will continue to exist.] Celica

As Lunelize heard these words, she let out a sigh.
Celica thought she would be happy to hear the royal family would continue but it was the opposite.
Lunelize was hoping to destroy the royal family.

[Why?] Celica

She asked.
And Lunelize answered.

[After the founding of the empire, for the several hundred years, the Grant family and those loyal to them have been living too freely. For the past several hundred years, the royalty has not worked, abused the results of people’s hard labor, and have been blatantly living in the lap of luxury. The royalty has done the same. Even in their wildest dreams would they ever think that their lifestyles are thanks to the support of the people. They plainly believe that people are supposed to be loyal to them.] Lunelize

[Those are some dangerous ideas. Especially since you are part of the royal family. Have you spoke to anyone?] Celica

[How could I? Until I met someone who could reform this country, I’ve kept these words a secret.] Lunelize

[The was smart of you. From now on, never speak these words unless you are in my presence.] Celica

[I understand.] Lunelize

She said this while smiling.

But, how did such a warm-hearted girl like Lunelize, become to hold such a strong anti-empire ideology. Celica became curious and asked her.

Lunelize cheerfully answered her.

[My father is monster who killed my mother’s lover. After seeing her by chance in town, the emperor wanted to bring my mother to his harem. So, he killed my mother’s lover, and stopped her from grieving for him.

Ever since I was young, my mother raised me and always told me this story.
She would say, your father is a demon.
And, you have half of his blood flowing in you.
Even on her deathbed she continued to spout these curses, then she left this world.] Lunelize

Lunelize told this horrible story as if it was nothing to fuss about.

[My mother told me all of this since I was young. She ordered me to destroy the emperor, no the imperial line. Then I met the person who could destroy the imperial line, that is you Celica-sama.] Lunelize

[…I see] Celica

The cause for this girls hatred is her mother. Celica thought that this hatred was deeply rooted.
But, for as deeply rooted as this was, Lunelize is tough and doesn’t seem to be easily broken.
Another option is after erasing all of the royal family, it might not be bad to have Lunelize take up the throne.
Then Celica could control her from the shadows and move the empire.
As Celica was drawing up these blueprints, she ate another sandwich.
Lunelize gazed at Celica.
Celica thought that something was on her face.
Or maybe Lunelize put something in the sandwich.
If it is the latter then this girl is really something. Celica thought this but she had it all wrong.

Lunelize didn’t put anything in the sandwiches, she was the one who made the sandwich in the first place.

It seems Lunelize want to know what Celica thinks of the taste.

(…This poorly made sandwich is from the princes, huh.)

Honestly, it’s impossible to make a bad sandwich.
Especially a tuna sandwich, anyone can make a good one.

But Celica simply said.
[Not bad.] Celica

This was her thought on the sandwich.

When Lunelize heard this, she showed a smile that would make a flower blush.

[I am honored to hear that. Celica-sama.] Lunelize

Celica was struck dumb by that smile.
Even though they are both girls, Celica thought that Lunelize was a very charming girl.

If it were to empty my wallet, all that’s there would be stamp cards for several stores I don’t even remember, and only 156 selen in coins.

….Just how did I become this poor?

In regards to that, the reasons behind this are large and complicated and are as numerous as the stars in the night sky. But, I can basically summarize it into two reasons.

――The first reason.

So, It seems that I did understood and at the same time didn’t understand the proper cost it takes to maintain a single person’s well being.
If I say this then you might be thinking {your guess was completely off right?}, but you’re wrong.

The natural world has betrayed me, that’s all.

But isn’t that the case. The reason why all of this happened is because human beings can’t handle the cold of winter.

Because of this, I was compelled to pay for winter clothes for Shalltear who just became my disciple. I was also compelled to to prepare food of a slightly higher quality than normal.

I can’t believe this.
Just what is the purpose of winter?
Also, why are human bodies’ hair so thin even though they understand that it’s cold outside?

At the northern borders of the kingdom is the Macle mountain range I’ve heard there is a self-ruling group of beastmen and birdmen living there. I believe we, humans, can learn a lot from them.
It seems that they are able to become very fluffy or super puffy at will. What the hell is that?
――There are some humans who even lose the little hair they should have on their heads!!

(TL Note: Ok so the above sentence is kind of dumb, instead of saying they grow hair he says “気合で微フサになったり超モフになったり”. And since he is using cute sounding onomatopoeia I didn’t want to change the meaning of what he said. Granite is just mad that he had to blow money on buying clothes.)

Haah…

――Now for the second reason.

…In order to register Shalltear as my disciple I had to pay a fee.
{It’s your own fault for not doing your research beforehand.} is what I was told? No, that’s wrong. I just didn’t even imagine I would have to pay!

If the previous reason was the natural word betraying me then this time it’s human society oppressing me.

I can’t believe this. In order to pass on my techniques for the sake of this country’s future, that is why I took a disciple.
Despite this why is it that money is being taken away from me.
I don’t give a damn what the country’s reasons are! If anything they should be giving me funds!

I’m sure someone else must have felt this way.
Is tormenting the general populace really that much fun!

………

――Well, in any case these are the two reasons that I couldn’t do anything about.

Ahhh….Regardless, 156 selen…

At this rate, those brats that shine shoes around here would scoff at me…
Even if it’s me, the amount of money in my pocket now is too pathetic.
At this rate, I would only be able to buy 1 and a half Wild Pigeon legs. As crappy as that meat is….

…….If I complain and haggle about the meat….Could I get 2 legs…?

But that’s only one meals worth….and until I finish that I won’t have to work, right?
Hmmm? Then I should eat that for dinner…so for today at least I won’t have to work, right?
I can just….start working from tomorrow, right?

I placed my hand to my chin and seriously considered this plan.

….No no no wait. Just wait a moment Granite Range.

To complain and haggle isn’t something a man of my caliber who went to the trouble of making a child from the slums my disciple should do.
Damn. if I only had 1 more 100 selen coin, I could put off working until tomorrow.
Then, I wouldn’t have to worry right now. …I wonder if there is a stray coin lying around here somewhere.

As I thought this, I leaned forward in my chair all the while knowing that this was useless, and tried recounting the coins that were lined up on the table.

1 coin, 2 coins, 3 coins, 4 coins….

I moved each coin carefully with my finger and checked to make sure there weren’t any extra coins hidden underneath the other coins.
Nothing… Just as I thought there aren’t any. It was exactly 156 selen.
It seems there is no mistake that this is all I have to my name at this moment.

Ahh, after doing something as futile as this, I’m slowly starting to feel pissed off at something I would normally not care about.

You know, like the dull light that shines of these damned coins
It’s almost as if the coins are making fun of me.

Yeah, for example it almost like….

{Heeey, brother…! As I look at the shine of your soul I sense a feeling of camaraderie! Hey now, don’t make such a scary face. Let’s get along! Both us and you, are friends at the bottom of the barrel. Oh, that’s wrong of me. We can be used, but no one is going to use you. Gahahahaha! }

…It’s like they’re saying that to me…

Damn, I’m really starting to get pissed off.

Dammit, maybe I should just melt the coins down.
Since 156 selen isn’t even a round number, isn’t it just causing me to worry?
On the contrary if I was completely broke, wouldn’t I feel better?

No, I shouldn’t. Calm down…calm down. I could be executed.

In this kingdom, anything that deals with forgery of money, especially when it comes to the “selen coins” distribute by the kingdom, is followed by a punishment that is somewhat severe. Even though the forgery of selen coins is well-known to be impossible, thinking about this is bad for my nerves.

After thinking about what would happen if anyone found out, there is no way I could do something that dangerous because of a short-term impulse.

……I just keep thinking about useless nonsense…

Maybe because I have been financially backed against a corner, I’m starting to go crazy.
Vexing, this is truly vexing. I feel the corners of my eyes starting to burn…
There is no saving this world… Is there no god…?

I lean back in my chair and my body went limp.

After I let out a sigh, I stop staring at the coins lined on my desk and I look around the room in a daze.

The alchemy pot in the middle of my workshop is already lit, so it’s nice and warm. Thank god for that.
Also another stroke of luck, since I have all of those skulls, animal bones, if I extract magic from them I can easily maintain the heat of the alchemy pot. Furthermore if I extract bone oil, then even if I use up all the magic from the bones; I can still use the bone oil to warm up to some extent. With this I won’t be shivering from the cold for 1 to 2 months. This is all much cheaper than using firewood.

…….Then I thought.

Why did I prepare all of these bones?
It’s not as if the alchemy staff (which was fake) really needed all of these bones. Am I an idiot?
Even if it only costed me some loose change, with that money I could have put off working…

I shouldn’t be thinking this way.

I shake my head to reset myself.
So as I changed my mood, I finally turned my attention to direction where I had been hearing a noise for a while now. (You can also say, I was so overwhelmed it took this long for me to finally focus on the something else.)

The person who was making that noise, running up and down my workshop/atelier, is none other than the girl I named Shalltear who became my disciple. She was officially recognized as my disciple as of yesterday, at the cost of a small amount of money.

I have no idea why she is so worked up, but she is cleaning the floor even though she wasn’t asked to.
She rolled up the sleeves of her clothes and she goes from one side of the room to another pushing a rag and cleaning the floor. Since she was moving around and working she didn’t seem restless. Her cheeks were red and a bead of sweat ran down her forehead causing her bangs to stick to her face, (TL Note: OK so in japan it is customary for you to clean a room by pushing a rag with your hands while your bent over from one side of the room to the other. This is how they clean the inside of temples or dojo. And in schools kids are taught to clean their own classrooms this way. I’ve done it before and it kills your back.)

She is a worker.
Even though she tried to kill herself not too long ago, she seems to be in good spirits.

She realized that I was looking at her while she worked.
Shalltear then stopped working and stood up. She then turned toward my direction and smiled.
The sleeves she had rolled up immediately fell down.

[Pap…..Master! Did you figure out, what was troubling you? ] Shar

[Ah…uhm. I am finished….] Granite

[I see.] Shar

She was looking at me with sincere eyes that said, I’m sure he was thinking on something meaningful.
As her pure innocent eyes pierced my body, I started to groan as I used my hands to shield my eyes.

I can hear Shalltear call out in a worried voice like before as she races toward me.

What am I supposed to do?
As I thought this, I weakly stuck out my head and gestured toward Shalltear.

[I’m f, fine. There is nothing….to worry about.] Granite

[Are you sure? Are you really really sure?] Shalltear

But it seemed I was a bit too slow, I could hear Shalletear’s voice a lot closer to me than I expected.
I opened up one eye as if I was looking at something terrifying….

There were the plain clothes of a town girl, the shirt was a bit too long.

But this young girl while only wearing such commonplace clothing, seemed to have this weird fleeting atmosphere of a fairy.
No matter how much her complexion has improved, she was originally very skinny and underweight. There might be another reason for this feeling I have now that I think about it…
….I was already enchanted with the young girl in front of me, I began to examine the girl in front of me.

She is just too beautiful. I am not talking about her looks, but her personality.
If I were to give an example, she is like a pure white canvas that hasn’t had anything painted on it yet. And this is….really strange.
In this day and age, even if its a child that’s not even 10 years old, you would expect for them to pick up something from the environment around them. Especially since the girl that is in front of me grew up in the slums.

It’s feels like she almost doesn’t exist.
When you put materials in the alchemy pot the materials are in the middle of transforming as you are creating something, this is what she reminds me of. A lump of unidentified ambiguous mass. An existence where if you interfere with it haphazardly or let it out of your sight for a second, it might disappear.
She might either disappear from in front of me or disappear all together, regardless I would be troubled since I’ve already invested in her already.

But, she seems better than the day before yesterday…
Well, leaving such an unstable existence in such an unstable state, is not good for my mental health.

But even though I thought this, I don’t want to be bothered with this. But, once i confirmed the small light in the eyes of the girl who is looking at me with an upturned gaze…

….I have no choice, I decided to compromise.

[Here now.] Granite

[Huh!? Ahh….] Shalltear

Ahh…I didn’t intend to “give” her anything more than what’s necessary… What a pain…. Well, I am used to compromising…

I patted the head of Shalltear who was in front of me.

[As you can see. It seems that you did some cleaning. Thank you.] Granite

[No…Um, yes… Unnn…] Shalltear

It seems that Shalltear can’t come to terms with what’s happening now. Her eyes were opened wide, her shoulders were shrugged, and she was shaking.
I can sense something strange with her.

[Haha, why are you huddling like that? You should be more confident. Also there is no reason to worry about me. Because I am a first rate magician, and a great and excellent alchemist. Also I am you master, do you understand?] Granite

As I said this, in order to lift up her spirits I put a little extra strength into rubbing her head.
As I did this, Shalltear finally was able to come back to her senses and raised her voice to respond.

[Y, Yes.] Shalltear

[Good. That’s the way.] Granite

[Hehehe…] Shalltear

[…hmm…] Granite

Shalltear showed a bashful smile.
Yeah, if I had a pet it would probably feel like this.

…To be honest, because I thought she was cute I feel like she got one over on me.

――And she seemed to be enjoying herself so much, I lost the timing to stop patting her head. I continued this for about a minute.

[[Gururu…]]

――At the same time both of our stomachs growled, snapping us back to reality.

§

After awhile I bought some steamed potatoes.
So all the money I have left was 31 selen.

Damn.

Damn.

Side note:
{Beastman Race}

Actually, beastman and humans (which are actually called the pure human race) are the same on a genetic level (at the time of this story its unknown). With their special Hyle spirit vein, they could transform at any time, which makes them look like a different race at first glance. So mating between the races is possible… but only if there are no moral or cultural problems.

Celica made a private alliance with Lunelize and returned to the Dreahit family right after.

In order to return the large sword, she is riding.

When she got back to the mansion, as expected, the mansion was in an uproar.

The Dreahit family was in a horrible mood after finding a bloody corpse in the men’s restroom. Having a murder occur on a beautiful wedding is a bad omen.

The people are in a rage to search suspects.

Of course, an adorable 9-year-old girl was never questioned.

Meanwhile, Celica waited for the chance to come so she could return the large sword back to its original place.

Then the aristocrats and soldiers who planned to assassinate Lunelize were arrested.

Celica confirmed the moment that the clock in the hall was pointing at 12 o’clock the presence of soldiers hastily entering from the entrance.

The soldiers push the local police who are inspecting the corpse and capture the criminals who were bragging on the balcony earlier.

The criminals screamed out what family they are from, what high nobles are backing them, and making threats of what would happen if the lay their hands on them. But once they heard the princess was still alive they resigned themselves to their fate.

They criminals quietly let themselves be tied up.

Incidentally, it was Celica who informed the authorities about the ringleaders of the imperial princess’s assassination attempt.

There was nothing in the way of evidence, but since they are the perpetrators, she told them if they captured the ringleaders they were sure to find some evidence.

In fact, according to interrogation, the men confessed, from the movement of money in their accounts to kidnappers they hired, everything was revealed.

Thusly, the case of the attempted kidnapping of the Imperial princess formally came to a close.

All the ringleaders were arrested, there was an internal dispute and one of them had their throat cut in the bathroom. That is what the story became.

But, the real culprit, this country’s “prime minister”’ of this country escaped capture.

He was cautious and one could not arrest the prime minister of the Empire without any evidence.

The Prime Minister of this country, depending on the circumstances, has more power than the Emperor. And now it is one of those circumstances.

Compared to Emperor Lambert who is sick and bedridden, the Prime Minister Elric holds more power.

Even if he is the mastermind behind attempted assassination of the royal family, the law of the land cannot touch him. In order to knockdown Elric, one would need a lot of power for that.

[In order to do it, I will need to acquire more power.] Celica

As Celica whispered this to herself, she left behind the bustling mansion.

On the way home, my mother’s hands were trembling.

I guess the murder case was terrifying for her.

She keeps whispering, “Thank god my daughter is ok.”.

There is no way she could imagine that her daughter was the actual murder.

Celica gripped her hand in order to calm her mother, but she will only be able to hold that small hand for now.

In a few days, Celica enters a prestigious school where only nobles are permitted to enter. So, once she learns the basic education and knowledge, Celica plans to enter the military academy.

Both schools are full-boarding schools.

Of course, you may be allowed to return to your home during long holidays, but knowing her personality, who knows how many times Celica will come home before she graduates?

The elf girl will be lonely, it wouldn’t be too hard to write a letter…

Celica walks down the night road of the imperial capital with thoughts on the near and the distant future.

Due to the illumination of the full moon, and a long shadow of the mother and child could be seen.

Later, a letter was delivered to Celica ‘s house.

It was a notice of enrollment to a prestigious school in the capital.

As Celica’s mother laid eyes on the letter she frowned.

Even for her, a woman who is unaware of worldly affairs, she there is no way that her daughter would suddenly be able to enter that school.

Moreover, these words were attached to the admission notice.

[Celica Desself, due to your excellent grades, you have been accepted to our school]

Well, let’s suppose that this part is ok. Indeed, Celica does have excellent grades.

The problem is the words that follow.

[We wish you the best in not only your studies, but in being school friends with the imperial princess.]

These words were also written there.

On the next day, a large amount of money was transferred from the Empires Household Department, Celica’s mother was increasingly confused by the situation.

She asks Celica.

[Celica, what is the meaning of this?] Celica’s Mother

Celica put on her innocent girl act and answered.

[Perhaps, it is probably because of the essay I wrote caught the eyes of the imperial princess.] Celica

[Essay?] Celica’s Mother

[Yes, I wrote it at school. It was an essay honoring the Emperor. Because I won and was awarded, I think the princess saw this and wanted to become friends with me. Maybe, I’m not sure.] Celica

[I see, I see. That’s what happened. Celica never talks about what happens at school, so I was suddenly surprised by this.] Celica’s Mother

Well, there might be a need to apologize.

However, after saying this to myself while coming up with that complete lie right on the spot, I asked my mother.

[Mother, I want to go to the same school as the princess. I’d like to become school friends with her.] Celica

After her mother remained silent for a while she responded.

[It will be difficult for you to become friends with her highness because you are a commoner.] Celica’s Mother

If Celica remains in the lower district nothing will change.

People avoid the sight of her light brown skin.

That is what Celica wanted to say, but in return she replied with this.

[I, want to be a soldier. A soldier who defends this country. A soldier who protects you, Mother. In order to do this, I have to enter the military academy. Please, let me be at the side of the princess.] Celica

[……Celica.] Celica’s Mother

After long silence in thought, her mother permitted Celica to become the princess’s school friend.

Her mother gave her consent to Celica to become a soldier in the future.

She seems to have wanted her daughter to live an ordinary life, to become a maid of a noble family, to have a happy marriage, to live a life without any disturbance. But maybe Celica’s mother may have realized.

Her daughter’s exceptional talents.

Her eyes that hold an ambitious light in them.

Her daughter is still only nine years old, but it maybe it’s time for Celica to be more independent.

Celica’s mother, who realized so, strongly hugged Celica and said.

[Please do not inconvenience the Princess. And make sure to write a letter every now and then.] Celica’s Mother